Cake Table

We picked up the cake table earlier this month. This is a HUGE thing for me, but if you don't know why, here is a refresher:

Back in the fall of 2009, Travis and I had been dating for maybe 9 months, we were talking about what would happen if we ever got married. This is the very moment when Travis introduced me to Steampunk and how it would be a cool theme for the wedding. He Googled it and showed me pictures, articles, etc... on the topic. I fell in love.

With Steampunk that is, I was already in love with Travis!

After this new-found love was formed, I sketched. I suddenly became my favorite fashion designer. I really haven't stopped "fashion designing" since, whether that be Steampunk outfits or something else.

In the midst of these dresses and tuxedos I was drawing up, I drew this:

This is the cake table design that I drew. It's crude and pretty terribly sketched, but it got the idea across.

I never thought it would really become a reality. I would toss the idea around in my head with all of the ways I could create it, the people I could talk to, where I would get materials, etc..., but I honestly had tossed it aside as an actual possibility.

Until I was proposed to, was getting married, and then told my mother about it.

In the beginning of the wedding process, we decided to meet with a potential wedding planner. While we decided not to use a wedding planner at all, she introduced us to a woodworker who was willing to make the table for a fraction of the price we thought it would be.

Thus, my dream had come true and the plan was in motion. Now, the table is finished and it's sitting in our garage. It has 5 platforms on it, 4 of them rotate in place and one is completely stationary. It also looks as if it is being run on a small steam engine. The wood frame is painted to look like an antique and is designed as a Queen Anne coffee table.

William (the table-maker) tested each platform's performance by placing 50lbs of weight on each and running it for 4 hours. The cakes are incredibly heavy.

Here is a little bit of a preview: *Drumroll please*

I probably shouldn't show you that, but since I love you so much - there it is!

Where it Gets Real

I won't deny that it still sometimes seems surreal that I'm getting married. Two and a half years seems like such a short time to really get to know anyone, let alone fall in love. But it's true. When I get "cold feet" about it, I ask myself why... and the only reason I can think of is "it's such a big step, and one I hardly thought I'd ever take" considering I spent a good amount of my childhood and teenage years trying to accept the fact that I'm fat and unlovable by anyone but family. However, that is, without a doubt, the dumbest reason to second-guess myself, or Travis for that matter - this is his decision too.

The wedding gets more real as I see it coming together - when I can see actual, physical pieces that will be in the wedding. These pieces are usually small and have been spread out - but I get the feeling things are going to be falling into place a lot faster this summer.

For example:

This may be the only picture of the table that I will upload until after the wedding. I don't want to give too much away ;-)

That's right, this is what will be the cake table. The one that has a series of gears beneath a glass top that are rotated by what seems like a miniature steam engine - and in turn those gears are rotating platforms that the cake will be on.

This was one of the first ideas I came up with when Travis first mentioned having a Steampunk wedding. This was way before he ever proposed, so it was great that we already knew what we were doing when he finally did! But given that this idea has been around since the beginning, it's really close to my heart, and I'm so grateful to the builder for allowing me to have such a great piece at my wedding, and for the rest of my life!

That's right! After the wedding, this will turn into the coolest coffee table you will ever see!
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Travis and I completed registering at Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday! Our registry number is 12258187, or you can just search the registries for "Brittany Klopfstein".

We've also "registered" at thinkgeek.com - it's a wishlist and you can find it here.

I'll be getting the website done this week - you can see it so far here. It's really, really, not finished yet, haha.

Mom and I also went to see the florist the other week. I was going to see if I could get a mock set-up of what the finished product might look like at the wedding so I could show you all, but I get scolded a bit for trying to ruin the surprise, haha. So sorry! There will be TONS of pictures after the wedding! You just have to wait till Novemberish!

Stop and Smell the Lilies

My mother was sarcastically  upset that the florist we chose didn't really like the centerpieces her and I came up with on our own, haha. He has a lot better ideas for more Victorian-style vases and real flowers. So, if you saw the way the tables were set up at the engagement party, everything except for the lanterns will change.

This is the closest picture I can find that looks like what I remember the flower looking like - a lily with a burnt-orange color with a hit of pink and also yellow. I think it's really pretty, and I'm excited about it! The way they will be displayed is going to look awesome as well!

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I don't remember if I mentioned this, but the moving table is back in action! The moving table - a coffee table-size with a glass top that covers the moving gears underneath, allowing the viewer to see them. The gears will rotate platforms the cake will sit on. After the wedding, we are going to remove the platforms (or keep them for display purposes?) and use it as a regular coffee table.

I'll have a sketch up as soon as we get it finalized.

This was one of the first ideas I had for the wedding waaaaay back when I considered having a Steampunk wedding (which was MONTHS before Travis proposed). So I'm super happy that we've found someone to make it for a reasonable price. We were originally told the estimate would be 5K, so you can assume it is much, much less than that - which we are very excited about.

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I still need to get the Thank-You's out for the engagement party. I'll keep that in mind. Also, if you're interested (I'll post it here) - I'm going to put together a video (that we wanted for the engagement party, but I was given late notice and couldn't get it together in time) that compiles pictures of Travis and I (from baby - on). It will also be on http://www.brittanyklopfstein.com/wedding.html - which is the link I put on the 'Save the Date' magnets we gave everyone.

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 Travis's mom is taking us to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra :) I'm super stoked! I've never seen them live before, and just watching the youtube videos gets me excited!

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My steamstress, Stephanie, at Vintage Modiste has asked me if I've contacted any magazines to cover the wedding - I want to , but I don't know how to sell anything but myself, haha. So she's said that she'll take care of at least some of it :-)

Something I think I also forgot to show you all - this is a sneek peek of what the dress will look like!

This is a terrible picture - it shows every wrinkle (which is a result of how we framed it and the beads against the glass).

This fabric is the same material, and made at the same mill, that Princess Diana's dress was made. It's 100% silk. The beads are of the highest quality - imported from Czechoslovakia, and the pearls are glass pearls. The embroidered design was done on the computer and then sewn into the fabric - it's not a patch.

It's beautiful, absolutely beyond anything I dreamed my dress would resemble. Stephanie is awesome.

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I can't think of anything else right now! More later!

Getting ready for the Party

The engagement party is inching closer and closer, and it's in our sights! It seemed so far away when we first talked about it, but I guess that's how it goes. I'll be saying the same thing when the wedding comes around.

Can I be honest with you for a minute? Of course I can.

I'm just crazy with emotions and thoughts. I like to blame it on stress of everything going on in my life, and that does add to it, but a good chunk I think is that... well... I'm nervous.

And don't get me wrong. It's not the idea of spending the rest of my life with Travis, because he is the only one for me. If you've seen me and him together, you understand. Everything in him is everything I've ever hoped for.

Even when I was younger, when I said in middle school, "The man I marry, I want our first date to be going to church and then hanging out afterwords." In which everyone replied to, "You're getting your hopes pretty high for that, dear, you'll scare him off if the first thing you do is go to church." or some other negative comment.

Our first date, we went to church. We then went to the Cheesecake Factory (a relatively expensive restaurant, if you didn't know), which he paid for (I wasn't expecting him to).

What I think I'm nervous about, is if I'll be a good wife. I mean, I've spent the majority of my life being the child, living in my parent's basement. I know I'm ready to be out of here and on my own, but it's like I'm skipping a level of life.

Or maybe it's more like... I'm a growing balloon and about to burst into independence and I'm afraid if I'll be good at it. I'm just a bit scared, I think. It really has nothing to do with Travis and that "is he the one" crap, because that's never even crossed my mind as a serious question. I couldn't even say I was compromising anything for him. He has a heart for God, he's intelligent and creative, he is financially stable and capable, I'm attracted to him beyond all belief, and I still can't believe how lucky I am.

I just feel out of my element. It's like this whole "wedding" thing is just some big party and nothing more.

I'm going to cry at the engagement party. I really think it will be then that something inside me pokes a hole in the balloon of my emotions and I start accepting that my life -is- actually this perfect and I -am- worth it.

God is good, and I am blessed beyond all belief.

So yeah, glad to get that off my chest. A little scared of "growing up" is all, right?

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I drew this up for you all, since the majority of you won't be at the engagement party.

It's really bad, and done quickly, but it's a basic idea of what the tables at the wedding will be set up like. We'll have the tables at the engagement part set up the same way.

...the big grey squiggly thing is a mirror, haha. Beads are inside the bottom of the vase that match the runner linens.

And then the silver wear at the wedding will be gold. I think we're using some silver plasticwear at the engagement party, though.

My dress that I will be wearing also arrived. A couple alterations have to be made, but overall I'm very pleased with it :-)
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I took some awesome pictures at the Wild West Fest this past Saturday. I also had a new costume, but I didn't get any pictures of that. Anyways, here are some that I did:

 That's all for tonight! I'm going to go dream sweet dreams of Travis ;-D